Vision, Mission & Market Sizing: Often Overlooked Yet Critical (Part 1 of 3)

I go through hundreds of start-up pitches every year, scouting for start-ups for the accelerator & other start-up programs of WISE Tech | SPJIMR . I get to meet all kinds of founders: passionate, inspired, exhausted, mature, immature, impatient, overly patient – you name it. Many founders in these pitches talk about the problem statement, their solution, and the business they are building. Often, startup pitches ending up sounding like a status report. But then, every once in a while, I see an inspiring pitch with a well-defined vision and a meaningful market opportunity. ?

Also, in most start-up pitches I often gloss over the market sizing slides, because they are simply unbelievable and unrealistic. Here in this series, I want to talk about why its important to articulate your vision and pay attention to the market sizing slides.

Why is Vision important?

Start-ups at its core are nothing but a bunch of unvalidated or semi validated hypotheses infused with a lot of passion (hopefully!). I am yet to find a start-up founder who has built their start-up as they originally envisioned. Start-ups pivot, and they have to - that’s how it works. So, how do investors, employees and other stakeholders decide to be associated with you? If you, as a founder need to and will change the canvas, then there has to something beyond what you are painting for people to get excited about you.

Vision is that glue that binds people to you and makes them traverse the roller coaster tart-up journey with you.

What is Vision?

Whenever you undertake any task, there are five golden questions that you must ascertain: Why? What? Where? When? How? and in the case of start-ups who? (will you influence)

Vision is the What? - one of the most important of these five questions.? It is the change you want to create in the world. It is the reason you feel passionate about taking the unbeaten path and facing all the hardships that an entrepreneur has to endure. ?So, naturally a great vision is not a business statement (clearly!). Unfortunately, in most cases, this is what I get to see - founders using dry business statements as their vision.

Steve Jobs once said, “If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you”

Crafting a Compelling Vision

A great vision statement comes out of your personal experience and finds moorings in your values, purpose & personal drivers. But at the same time, remember that a founder’s game is like soccer or cricket not tennis. You need to carry people along, so vision cannot just be about you. It needs to be aspirational, forward looking, inspirational and customer-centric. ?

Examples of inspiring Vision Statements:

Airbnb: “Creating a world where anyone can belong anywhere”

LinkedIn: “Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce”

Google: “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”

Uber: “To give people the power to get where they want to go, making transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere, for everyone”

The Checklist for a Great Vision Statement

If you are a start-up founder, I urge you to take a look at your vision statement and see if it meets at least these four aspects:

1. Is it inspirational? You wanting to be rich is not inspirational for anyone else except you!
2. Does it keep the customer in mind?
3. Is it forward looking? Vision is not a goal sheet. It is not a market share you achieve after which vision has to be redrafted. Yes, vision do get modified as you evolve but generally, they retain its core (for a long time!)
4. Is it coming out of your personal experience? Otherwise, its meaningless and becomes a charade. Vision is a tool that you use to inspire others to partake in the journey with you. So, all of above makes sense only if it coming from your personal experience.

In today’s thriving start-up ecosystem, entities like FinNovate & EarthLab Accelerators provide start-ups access to mentors & investors. Utilize such resources to test your vision against these criteria.

Documenting Your Vision

Your vision should not remain confined to your mind; it must be documented. Most of the start-ups operate with 2 to 4 co-founders. Amidst the rapid pace of start-up growth and pivots, it’s easy to lose sight of your original vision. Documenting collectively what you aim to build serves as a beacon during stressful times - a common experience awaiting every founder. It provides clarity on what to decline and why?

And while you draft your vision; it’s equally important for co-founders to articulate your values and what you stand for to each other. I have witnessed brilliant start-up ideas falter because co-founders drifted apart on their vision and lacked alignment in values. Outside of the start-up context, concepts like right, wrong, integrity, customer satisfaction, service excellence, equality and fairness may seem straight forward. However, in the wild west of start-ups, decisions often exist in shades of grey. Your vision and your value statement then become your guiding light for what you will uphold without compromise. It is crucial that co-founder group aligns on how make tough decisions; otherwise, it is only a matter of time before fractures emerge!

Lastly, a compelling vision statement not only inspires investors to see beyond the obvious and but also encourages them to contribute to a future you envision, beyond just providing funding.

Stay tuned for Part 2

In the next part of this series, I would delve into mission statement.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely my own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of SPJIMR, unless explicitly stated.